The Inseparable Two
by Concentration Maple-ation
Summary: Gamzee finds Tavros in the hospital after he saves children from a burning church. All is well until Tavros begins to die- but there's no way Gamzee'll let him get away. Even if it means leaving everyone else behind. T for language - AU, Humanstuck & Sadstuck, PBJ and character death.


The sound of his ringtone woke Karkat from his sleep. Not that he  
really could sleep anyways. Giving the silent night a groan, he wanted  
to ignore it, but the ringtone that was playing signaled it was  
Gamzee. What could he possibly want at 4 in the morning?

The young man desperately in need of sleep begrudgingly leaned over to  
grab his phone from his nightstand. Glaring at the bright light of his  
screen that bathed his face in a glowing purple to confirm it indeed  
was his best friend, he brought his phone tiredly to his ear.

"What could you possibly want at 4 in the morning, Gamzee? You know I  
can barely sleep as it is, what's the point in calling me up to make  
it more of a pain in the ass?" He grumbled to the other male angrily,  
closing his stinging eyes. He rubbed the side of his face with the  
hand that was unoccupied, falling back down to the bed as he let his  
friend answer.

"Tavros is in the hospital," Gamzee answered. His voice was completely  
void of emotion, causing Karkat's eyes to open up wide again. From the  
way his normally goofy and idiotic best friend sounded, it wasn't  
good. Tavros was in the hospital. He could be seriously injured, or  
even worse- dying.

Karkat didn't answer for a while. He stayed still, his eyes wide.  
Gamzee's voice was completely emotionless- no pain, no fear, no worry,  
not even in the slightest. The Cancer went over several scenarios in  
his head- Tavros could be terribly injured. Diagnosed with a horrible  
illness. He could be dying. He could be dead at that moment.

"...Karkat?" the whisper of Gamzee's voice over the phone brought him  
back to earth. At least he could hear some pain in the way he said his  
name, and, oh, it hurt Karkat himself. Right in the chest.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a bit," Karkat replied after gulping down a  
lump in his throat and hung up after a few seconds. He sat up slowly  
with a sigh, depositing his phone back on his nightstand as he moved  
to his closet to throw some clothes on. He slipped into the chilly  
night air outside and got in his car, rubbing his face again before  
pulling out of his driveway to make the trip to the hospital.

* * *

When Karkat saw Gamzee in the waiting room outside the door Tavros was  
(presumably) in, his heart sunk. The Capricorn's eyes were drooping,  
yet emotionless, his face blank and his shoulders slouched. His  
facepaint was smudged and his fingers were fighting themselves in  
worry. He didn't move when his best friend approached him. The sight  
made Karkat less angry about having to drive to the hospital at 4 in  
the morning to console Gamzee.

He reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, the slight touch making  
the other flinch and look up at Karkat, his back straightening  
slightly and a small spark in his eyes. "Hey."

"Hey Gamzee," Karkat spoke gently and moved to sit next to the taller  
man, who looked back towards the door. The two sat in silence for what  
seemed like forever. Karkat's hand had eventually slipped from  
Gamzee's shoulder. The sound of the ticking clock and the distant  
clamoring of people and doctors were the only sounds that they heard.

Karkat was the first to (hesitantly) break the silence. "What  
happened?" His voice was merely a whispering squeak, his ears hearing  
nothing but silence after his voice. Gamzee turned his head slowly to  
look at his best friend, then turned back to the door without a sound.

"A church set fire. He went in to rescue a few kids," Gamzee answered  
simply after a long while. His shoulders slumped again as Karkat  
brought him to lean on his shoulder while stroking his hair.

Karkat decided not to say anything, opting to listen to the clock and  
the clamoring people instead.

* * *

A doctor eventually stepped out and let the two boys see him. Gamzee  
rushed in quickly, ignoring the nurse's whisper to be careful as she  
stepped out with the doctor. Gamzee stared intently at the boy, taking  
in every detail of his appearance. The shade of his dark skin had  
become pale, scattered with a few burns. His clothes were burned and  
he had a smoky smell to him. He didn't look peaceful, as Karkat  
thought he would, instead looking in very, very much pain. Karkat  
didn't blame him.

Gamzee reached out to move the bangs out of his eyes, slowly leaning  
in to study him further. Karkat watched from behind Gamzee, following  
the slow and barely noticeable rise and fall of the sleeping boy's  
chest with his gaze.

"Tav?" Gamzee tried whispering to Tavros in hopes of getting his  
attention, but received no reply. "...Tavbro?"

Karkat made a small step towards him. "Let him sleep Gamzee," he  
commanded quietly but made no move to leave the room, studying Tavros  
almost as closely as his best friend was. "We know he's okay, we  
should go."

Gamzee continued to slowly stroke Tavros's hair, his movements gentle  
but slightly shaky. He tuned out Karkat's words and stared at Tavros's  
pained face with his own blank one.

"...Gamzee," Karkat tried again, touching the clown's arm. He finally  
got his attention and the taller looked at him while ceasing his  
movements. "Let's go."

Gamzee's steel blue eyes looked back to the sleeping boy and lingered  
before finally giving in and nodding, following Karkat out of the  
hospital and back to his house.

* * *

No one else got word of Tavros being in the hospital until Nepeta  
asked Karkat where the Taurus was. She had been pestering him over  
pesterchum but there was no answer. She tried calling him, but still  
no answer.

"Oh no! Tafurros what happened?!" Nepeta had squealed, yelling  
something to Equius before hanging up, most likely rushing to the  
hospital to visit her 'furriend'.

Gamzee already beat her there and was whispering to the still sleeping  
Tavros. Nepeta couldn't keep her energy down and was asking so many  
questions in such a fast pace in such a loud voice, a nurse had popped  
in and scolded her. Yet, she still couldn't keep it down and Gamzee  
took it upon himself to let a not-too-nice growl escape his throat.  
Equius had quickly removed Nepeta from the room after that.

After numerous days of visiting a sleeping Tavros in the hospital, the  
boy finally woke up. Gamzee was absolutely delighted to see him awake.  
It was difficult to tone down how excited he had been after being in a  
grumpy mood for the past week. He had received a warning from a nurse  
before he got his act together. Tavros just gave a weak giggle.

"How you feeling brother?" Gamzee asked one day as he waltzed into the  
room to the younger boy, receiving a smile, which dissolved into a  
frown as he seemed to remember something.

"I, uh, am in pain, but I feel okay," he answered, looking down at his  
legs and back up to Gamzee, holding his breath. "And, uh..."

Gamzee waited patiently. When Tavros didn't continue he urged him on.  
"Yeah?"

"I... May be, uh... Crippled for the... For the rest of my life," he  
sniffled, looking back down. The Taurus bit his lip and fiddled with  
the band around his wrist, careful not to bump any burns. "A, um,  
burning beam fell on my back... But, uh, at least it didn't... Uhm...  
Kill me..."

Tavros didn't look back up until he was gently, and slightly awkwardly  
hugged. It seemed as though Gamzee knew exactly where very burn and  
pain was in his body as nothing was brushed or bumped. He let out a  
small squeak in surprise, reaching up slowly to hug him back  
(hopefully without pain) but stopped when an unrecognizable voice left  
from the body embracing him.

"You didn't have to save those little snot-nosed motherfuckers from  
that church Tav," Gamzee growled. God, he forgot to take his  
medication from being so excited to see his best bro. That wasn't good  
for anyone.

"You could've left them to **motherfucking** _**burn** _and you wouldn't be like  
this," he continued, Tavros frozen in shock. Gamzee released him  
quickly, staring at him intensely, studying him once more.

"I... I couldn't do that..." Tavros gulped, afraid to say anything  
more. He couldn't say anything more anyways as Gamzee left the room in  
a huff.

* * *

A few more visits to the hospital had been made. Gamzee actually  
remembered to take his meds those times, apologizing for the day he  
didn't.

One day when Gamzee tried to visit, Karkat in tow, the doctor stopped  
them.

"I'm sorry boys, but your friend is dying."

They both froze. Their eyes went wide, then Gamzee narrowed his. "I-I  
need to see him." He reached for his back pocket but stopped when  
Karkat grabbed his arm. However, the doctor finally broke down and let  
them see their friend in his final moments.

"T-Tav..." Gamzee called, running over to the boy. His body was paler  
than usual and he was squirming in pain, struggling to stay alive.

"G-Ga... Zee..." he whimpered, cracking his eyes open. Gamzee's heart  
might've stopped beating right there and then. He couldn't help but  
stroke the Taurus's face.

"You're- you're gonna be fine, Tav..." Gamzee choked out, his body  
struggling not to crumple.

"Yeah..." Tavros whispered with a pained smile, reaching up to touch  
Gamzee's chin with cold fingers. "Stay... Stay golden, Z-Zee..." He  
whispered before his arm fell and his eyes slipped shut, the rise and  
fall of his chest coming to a stop.

Gamzee's hand didn't leave Tavros's face. It did, however stop its  
movements. "Tav... Tavros, no... Please, god no... No..."

Karkat could only watch from afar, biting his lip and looking at  
Tavros's body. His attention snapped back to Gamzee as he threw  
himself against the wall, punching it in hopes it would meet his  
command and keep Tavros alive.

"No!" he wailed, grasping his face in his hands before he ran out of  
the room and through the hall. Karkat stared at the door that Gamzee  
left out of, but didn't take a step forward. His eyes moved to the  
shell of what a sweet, innocent and caring boy once lived in. Tavros  
was too innocent to die, Karkat actually couldn't believe he was gone.

"And he was the only thing Gamzee really loved..." Karkat whispered to  
himself, leaning back against the wall. Gamzee loved Tavros. He loved  
Tavros so much. And now he was gone. Tavros was gone- what was left  
for Gamzee to love?

Karkat thought of himself but snorted. No way. He was such a terrible  
best friend to Gamzee, there was nothing else he could- Karkat  
stopped. He knew what Gamzee was going to do. His eyes widened and he  
pushed himself off of the wall, sparing Tavros a last glance before he  
rushed out of the hospital and into the night. He rushed into the  
parking lot, finding Gamzee's car gone. He'd have to walk. And only  
god knows where Gamzee could be right now.

He walked along the streets, pulling his jacket tight around him. It  
was fucking cold out, that was for sure. He barely registered a car  
pulling up beside him and he nearly screamed his lungs out when  
someone yelled "Hey!" at him.

He looked over and stared into the eyes of Eridan. God was he such a  
desperate douchebag sometimes. They did gossip about something or the  
other, though, so I guess Karkat could call him... Not-an-enemy? He  
wouldn't call Eridan a friend.

He also saw Sollux in the back seat on his laptop, probably coding. He  
could call Sollux a friend.

"Need a lift?" Eridan asked him, pointing to the passenger's seat to  
his left. Yes, his left. Stupid British people and their stupid  
British cars.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Karkat grumbled before rushing into the  
warmth of the car. He buckled himself and sighed, glancing at Sollux  
in the back seat, who gave him a small smirk behind his stupid 3D  
glasses that matched his eye color. Curse those glasses.

"Where to, Kar?" Eridan asked, rolling up the window and turning the  
volume of his music to a tolerable level. (It still irked Sollux  
though- he hated Eridan's music.)

"Uh..." Karkat thought for a moment. Where would Gamzee be? And, oh  
god, did it already happen? He's been walking for a while.

"I'm waitin'..." Eridan piped up, receiving a kick to his seat from  
Sollux.

"Don't rush him," he demanded, typing away on his computer.

"Shut the fuck up Sol!"

And the fighting commenced.

"Shut the fuck up you two!" Karkat shouted, earning their attention.  
"Get me to Gamzee's house, and dear god step on it!" Eridan  
(thankfully) didn't question the orders he was given and got back on  
to the road to Gamzee's house.

* * *

Karkat nearly burst in the door when he got there. He studied the  
apartment, seeing nothing but darkness. He jumped at a familiar  
ringtone and fished his phone out of his pocket to answer it.

"Hello?" he gasped, not giving time for the other to talk as he  
continued, "where in the hell are you Gamzee?"

Eridan watched him from the bottom of the stairs. "Oh my god, Gamzee  
just got caught stealing from the supermarket, we gotta go get him!"  
Karkat yelled, closing the door again and nearly tripping down the  
stairs. (Stairs that Gamzee's roommate hated very much, piping in with  
a "I need to warn you about the stairs bro" every time he traveled  
down them, causing Gamzee to nearly push him down the stairs.)

Eridan furrowed his brows but said nothing more as he climbed into the  
car again, taking off as soon as Karkat sat down. He traveled quickly  
towards the parking lot of the market, already seeing Gamzee running  
towards them. Police cars gathered across from the lot. By then,  
everyone (even Sollux (a police officer in training)) had gotten out  
of the car, watching Gamzee move under the circle of the street light.  
He reached for something in his pocket, Karkat immediately recognizing  
what it was and shouted out for him. Gamzee ignored him and pulled it  
out- pointing it directly at the officers.

Everything seemed to play in slow motion as the bullets rang through  
the silent night air. Karkat's mouth fell wide and he wanted to scream  
and shout and stop Gamzee's body from crumpling to the ground.

He tried to run forward but Eridan held him back. His vision was  
blurry and his ears rung. He didn't know how loud he was screaming and  
he struggled against Eridan to get to Gamzee. All he wanted was to get  
to Gamzee.

He finally broke free and full out sprinted to the body of his best  
friend lying on the ground. He was too late. He knew this would happen  
and he knew he could stop him- but he was too late.

He didn't mind how his hands became sticky and red as he screamed and  
cried and wailed over Gamzee's cold body. The expression etched onto  
his face was of triumph- and pain. So much pain it made Karkat's heart  
break in two.

He screamed at his friend's body before he was being dragged away. He  
was an absolute mess- covered in blood and tears. He struggled again-  
this time in an officer's grasp, being stood up and away from Gamzee's  
body. He swayed on his feet and his vision was spotted in black.  
Eridan reached out to catch him, but wasn't quick enough and Karkat's  
face was introduced to the ground.

The dead expressions of Gamzee and Tavros flashed in his mind before  
he fully blacked out.

Gamzee loved Tavros more than anything in the world. He never left his  
side. They were inseperable. Gamzee would die for Tavros.

And die for Tavros he did.

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry for this. I really am. There's a reason why I wrote this though- and the entire idea wasn't originally mine. I guess.**

**Anyone who can guess what this is based off of gets a cookie.**

**Thanks for reading. Review and favorite if you want.**


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